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09 Sep 2016

Bachelor of Applied Science Sport and Exercise student Callum Morris, at the age of 23, has already had a life most of us would envy. In the final year of his degree Callum was employed by Rugby Canada. The last two years he has been living in Canada to work with the Rugby Women’s Sevens team and he even joined them in Brazil, for the Olympics.

“It all started with a work placement for my Sport and Exercise studies at Ara. As part of the undergraduate degree we had to complete a 130 hours work placement and I was lucky enough to do mine with Jamie Hamilton, the performance analyst at the Crusaders.”

“The Crusaders then were contacted by Rugby Canada asking if they knew of anyone who would be interested in joining the team as a performance analyst.”

Callum on the left with the Canada Women's Sevens team - picture by Paige Stewart.

Callum was put in touch with Rugby Canada and got the job before he even graduated. Though he could no longer study fulltime he has managed to continue to do course work through flexible learning and will complete the degree this year.

“I am responsible for the analysis of training and competition for both Canada and all opposition teams. This is done in the form of video, statistics and visual feedback. It is a great job and in the quieter times I can manage to study.”

Callum has been working with them for two years and was lucky enough to join them at the Olympics, “as the performance analyst for the Canadian women's Sevens team. It was great to experience the Olympic village and venues. It is rare that you get over 10,000 athletes in one place at one time.”

This was the first time women’s rugby was included in the Olympics. The Canadian team won the bronze medal, behind Australia and New Zealand.

“For Canadian rugby it is a massive deal. The Olympics gives all sports a lot of exposure and with the publicity from winning the bronze medal, we hope that rugby will grow in Canada.”

The Olympics are over, but it doesn’t mean Callum’s life is getting calmer.

“It’s the Sevens World Series this year and Sevens World Cup in 2018 which I am really looking forward to! I'm really enjoying working within international Rugby Sevens. Right now, I want to learn and gain as much experience as I can.”